Review & Giveaway: Lost and Fondue by Avery Aames

When Charlette Bessette, owner of Providence, Ohio's fancy cheese shop, Fromagerie Bessette, is asked by her friend Meredith to cater a fund raiser at the old abandoned Ziegler winerey, it is with some trepidation. For years rumors have abounded of buried treasures and possibly a few buried bodies at the winery. The fundraiser is to purchase the winery and turn it into a local college.

Meredith's niece, Quinn, and her artistic friends are all excited as they want to search for the treasure; they put no stock in the buried bodies legend. Someone uses the occasion and subsequent scavenger hunt to murder one of the party. Unfortunately, Quinn becomes the prime suspect. Since the police chief Umberto Urso went to school with Charlotte and had a small crush on her, he gives her some leeway in interfering with the crime investigation. Charlotte is determined to find the guilty party and free Meredith's niece Quinn but with a lot of suspects and different motives, that might prove very difficult indeed.

Avery Aames does a terrific job of creating an atmosphere and setting the scene of the crime. I never knew there were so many different cheeses! Along with the cheese shop plot line and Charlott'es new love interest, there are several other plot lines going on that added to the realism of the characters. However, I did have a quibble with the mystery part. Some of the clues were symbolic and had me somewhat sceptical at their plausibility but as with a lot of cozies, a little suspension of disbelief is necessary. Lost and Fondue is still an enjoyable read for cozy fans. 3.5***

Avery Aames is also the author of The Long Quiche Goodbye, the first book in the cheese shop series. Lost and Fondue is the sequel. Recipes are included in the book using some of the cheeses mentioned.

Disclosure: A review copy of the book was provided by Berkley in exchange for my honest opinion.

To celebrate the release of Lost and Fondue, Berkley is allowing me to giveaway 1 copy of the book. Open to US only. Deadline to enter is June 5th at 5 PM (est). Bonus entries available:

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Fondue! Do you remember when that was all the rage? I had a small fondue in copper for chocolate, a larger stainless for beef and a wonderful black and white ceramic for cheese. I still have the color coded long handled forks but the pots are gone! Actually the black and white one overheated and cracked spreading molten cheese like white lava all over my coffee table. What a mess--hopefully the situations in the book are not so much.

I follow as kt

and will post the info about Lost and Fondue on my blog kt-themindtraveler.blogspot.com

About Me

I've been retired in Florida for 16 years but originally came from MA. Too much snow shovelling! Don't miss that at all. Even my penguin collection doesn't miss the cold. Air conditioning is ok with that gang!